It’s not often that Accounting Partners are lost for words or answers in front of their clients. In fact, Accountants are trained to seek answers and evidence to solve their clients problems on a daily basis.
But what if the client asks you questions you know you can’t answer?
What if they asked you:
How much money will I need to retire?
I just received an inheritance, where should I invest it?
My wife is worried we are not financially protected, can you help us?
What would you say?
If you have a relationship with a Financial Planner, you could say that you can introduce the client to them (although this presents a risk to you – more on that in future articles).
There has to be an easier way?
And there is.
Compare the Pair
Brett had been operating his Accounting firm with his Partner George for 12 years. They were happy and comfortable with the revenue, team and profit. But they beginning to receive a lot of questions from clients about retirement.
Their client base was mostly business owners in their 50’s and in the past, any questions they received from clients that involved Financial Planning, they had referred to a local Financial Planning Business which was run by a friend of George’s.
They hadn’t seen it as a major problem – but now, clients were starting to have more and more complex problems that they wanted to help with, but Brett and George were not sure that they could help them.
Clients were starting to become frustrated that their questions seemed to be brushed off or that they were just being given an email of a Financial Planner to meet with who they had never met and didn’t trust.
John was in a similar position to Brett. He too had a partner, Mark, however, 5 years ago, they saw an opportunity to provide a more comprehensive service to their clients by starting a Financial Planning business.
While it was a big commitment at the time and involved a bit of pain finding the right Financial Planner to fit in with their culture, they now had Sean a fully qualified Financial Planner working in their Financial Planning business.
John and Sean would meet each week to review upcoming client meetings that John and Mark had as well as review previous prospect and WIP clients.
Sean would simply attend a meetings where John or Mark had a client who could benefit from Financial Planning. John or Mark would introduce Sean at the appropriate time and the client would get to ask Sean questions and Sean would then be able to set the scene for the Financial Planning work they could do together.
Sean would be able to provide all of the compliance requirements to the client without John or Mark worrying about it.
Now the clients were happy and John and Mark got to see first hand the value that Sean was able to provide to their clients and could provide information to Sean after the meeting where needed and check up on the status of each of their clients on a weekly basis.
It was easy.
Brett and George weren’t able to answer their clients questions and didn’t have a solution to their problem.
Mark and John were able to answer their clients questions through Sean and their solution not only provided value to their clients but gave Mark and John a business that would deliver solid financial returns that created Wealth for them and their families.
The Solution is Simple
As an Accountant, you relish the opportunity to help your client and have the answer to their questions, concerns and problems.
If you are worried about what you would say to a client if they asked questions you know you can’t answer, you don’t have to be.
There is a solution.
What’s stopping you?
Having a Financial Planner in your office is the easiest way to help you provide the services your clients want.
If you want to know how, reach out and we can have a chat about creating a successful and profitable Financial Planning business for you.
